Bad Weather Could Force Shuttle Discovery To Land In Western US

SHUTTLE NEWS

Astronaut Bob Curbeam inside the ISS during the recent mission.

by Staff Writers
Cape Canaveral (AFP) Dec 20, 2006
Bad weather forecast for Friday could force the space shuttle Discovery to land in the western United States instead of Cape Canaveral, Florida, as planned, NASA said Wednesday. "So far, the weather conditions are acceptable in White Sands (New Mexico) for Friday, but the weather in Florida is always unpredictable," said Jessica Rye, a spokeswoman for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at the Kennedy Space Center here.

If weather conditions in Florida are unfavorable, Discovery could land at the US space agency's White Sands test facility in New Mexico or at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

"The decision will be made 90 minutes before landing, so there is no way to know it (the landing site) before Friday," Rye said.

The shuttle undocked from the International Space Station late Tuesday, at the end of a successful eight-day construction mission, to begin its return to Earth.

Source: Agence France-Presse

SHUTTLE NEWS

Crew Inspecting Heat Shield, Preparing for Landing

Houston TX (SPX) Dec 21, 2006
The STS-116 crew is conducting a final inspection of Space Shuttle Discovery's heat shield today and preparing for landing. STS-116 Commander Mark Polansky, Pilot Bill Oefelein and Mission Specialist Nicholas Patrick are using the shuttle's robotic arm and boom extension sensor system to check the heat shield for any space junk or micrometeoroid hits that may have occurred while the orbiter was docked to the International Space Station.

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